Early night!

[cowparsley]

Just want to wish all you Hearties out there a happy and healthy(well relatively!) New year.Not going out tonight for fear of alcoholic poisoning and I want to say a big thankyou for all the support,kindness and info I`ve received since joining the forum but most of all thank you for the jokes and banter which I love.Laughter really is the best medicine.I feel as though I`ve made a whole new group of friends xxx

[Hidden]

Thought you’d be hitting union street

[cowparsley in reply to Hidden]

Oh,those were the days Deano!!

[Lezzers]

Happy & healthy new year to you also x

[cowparsley in reply to Lezzers]

Thank you Lezzers x

[SpiritoftheFloyd]

Happy New Year to you. I'm staying in tonight all well. I'd like to say that I'm unusually staying in, but that's not really true as I spent last NYE in an Acute Care room in hospital, so really staying in tonight is a big improvement on last year 😊

[cowparsley in reply to SpiritoftheFloyd]

Long may that improvement continue x

[Gladwyn]

Wishing you all the best for 2020. 🎈👏💐

[cowparsley in reply to Gladwyn]

Thank you Gladwyn x

[Milkfairy Heart Star]

Happy New Year

Let's hope 2020 is full of fun and laughter

[cowparsley in reply to Milkfairy]

Certainly hope so Milkfairy.That`s what keeps me going x

[cowparsley]

Thank you.Let`s hope so x

[Qualipop]

I made an enormous Mary Berry casserole (the one she made with William and Kate) with oven chips, a chicken and bacon pie and a quiche; a trifle ( No sherry) and an orange cake and we spent the evening at home with 3 friends and two crazy dogs. Laughed ourselves silly and crawled to bed at 2am. I had casserole only and a rather generous helping of trifle and toasted the new year with precisely one inch of lager. ( I haven't had a drink in 19 years.) I can honestly say it was the best evening I've had in years. I rarely get out of the house but that's what life is about and how I want next year to be; good friends, good company and good food and reasonably good health. I wish the same to all of you and thanks for all the help I've had over the last year.I didn't get up today until 11am and I don't care. A year ago I thought I would be lucky to see another New Year in. I start a disabled exercise class in a couple of weeks; one resolution I will NOT break and I'm learning Norwegian. What a difference a year can make. Make the most of every day.

[cowparsley in reply to Qualipop]

Gosh Qualipop,such culinary skill and learning Norwegian.So glad you had a brilliant night with friends xx

[Qualipop in reply to cowparsley]

I have Norwegian dogs and Norwegian friends. I thought it was only polite to try to learn the language. It's NOT easy; well the grammar and a lot of words are like German or English is but the pronunciation is awful. Anyway they reckon learning a language at my age staves off dementia LOL. Use it or lose it! Happy New Year.

[Ianc2 in reply to Qualipop]

Yes, it is a very rough and ready language, Personally I think you are completely barking to even attempt it. It makes your throat go all husky and you will have to collar a really good teacher before you attempt it.

Some people find that it gives them nightmares and they wake up howling in the night, exchanging glances, and more howling in the night. Others find that a good text book is something to get you teeth onto. Skol. Godt nytt år.

[Qualipop in reply to Ianc2]

LOL. I'll stick to Duo Lingo thanks. It teaches Bokmal so at least I can write to people and understand what I read. Not started howling yet- the dog does that.

[cowparsley in reply to Qualipop]

I`m sure the dogs will appreciate being spoken to in their mother tongue and correct any mispronunciations.Im`going stick to Italian,it`s fairly easy compared to Dutch,Norwegian etc .We`ll have to compare notes on progress,in English of course or we won`t what the devil we`re talking about!Good luckx

[Qualipop in reply to cowparsley]

I tried Italian many years ago but couldn't get the hang of it. They spoke too fast for me. I remember one man in Verona giving us directions and all we could do was jot down L or R according to which way his arms pointed. Couldn't understand a single word.

[Sunnie2day in reply to Qualipop]

I tried Italian as well but gave it up in the end as I kept slipping into Spanish.

[cowparsley in reply to Sunnie2day]

Yes I think the two languages are similar but my brother who`s fluent in Spanish says not.

[Sunnie2day in reply to cowparsley]

Your brother is correct - there are significant differences between Italian and Spanish. But there are enough similarities in common words that I couldn't stop myself if I used two or more of the similar words in a sentence.

Sad, I really wanted to learn Italian at least as well as I speak (and read, and write) Spanish. But I just couldn't wrap my brain around it.

[cowparsley in reply to Sunnie2day]

Well you`re way ahead of me.I prefer classes but I`m miles from any classes and not really disciplined enough to learn by CDs but I will struggle on.What with the yoga,swimming and twice daily dog walking plus I want to get back to painting it all takes a lot of organizing and that is my big failing! I`ve never ever managed to organize my time efficiently.I have a dream of a perfectly well run existence but I`m running out of time!!

[cowparsley in reply to Qualipop]

True but people learning English say just the same about us!

[Qualipop in reply to cowparsley]

I'd rather learn Norwegian than be a foreigner trying to learn English. It's the most ridiculous language with grammar and spelling there is. Get your head round cough, bough, rough, bought, caught, drought,

[cowparsley in reply to Qualipop]

I know,I`m a retired English teacher and much as I love the language I agree.

[Maisie2014]

I love learning other languages. We usually go to France on holiday so I can practice but didn’t go this year because of my heart attack. You’ve given me an idea to take my mind off my illness so I’ll be getting my Mandarin books out. I studied it for 5 years when I was in my mid fifties. I still try to practice from time to time.